The Coalition's cuts to housing benefit for people with a spare room are
legal, the High Court has ruled, rejecting claims that the so-called
"bedroom tax" discriminates against disabled people.

Campaigners did not succeed in their bid to block the policy, after arguing that many disabled people should not have to share bedrooms.

However, the court did criticise the Government for failing to act early enough to protect disabled children from the effects of the policy.

Lord Justice Laws said the current state of affairs "cannot be allowed to continue".

Lawyers acting for disabled people said the ruling would force the Government to show there will be "no reduction of housing benefit where an extra bedroom is required for children who are unable to share because of their disabilities".

However, David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said the social housing group was still "deeply disappointed with the outcome."

"The fact that disabled people are being forced to take the Government to the High Court to challenge the bedroom tax shows how desperate their situation is," he said.

"Housing associations warned from day one that this policy was unworkable. Disabled people across the country are being forced to cut back on food and heating to pay the bedroom tax, despite the fact that many have had their homes adapted at great cost due to their disabilities."

Esther McVey, Tory minister for disabled people, said she was pleased the High Court agreed that the Government has fulfilled its equality duties.

She told BBC News: "This isn't an easy decision. When the country was left in incredible debt you have to take difficult decisions and this has gone through a lot of reviews, it has gone through a lot of decision-making and it's taken a long period of time. We've just got to make sure that we get it right for disabled people and the country as a whole, and that's why we've trebled the discretionary housing payments."

The Government disputes the term "bedroom tax" used by campaigners, branding it the removal of a "spare room subsidy".

Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, has also repeatedly attempted to portray reform as a "tax".

Under the Government's proposals, people in social housing will receive a cut in housing benefit where they are deemed to have spare bedrooms.

Ministers say the “under occupancy penalty” is intended to ensure that the best use is made of social housing and reduce the housing benefit bill, currently more than £20 billion a year.

The Department for Work and Pensions estimates that the change will save taxpayers £480 million a year and affect around 600,000 people. The average loss for a single empty bedroom will be £14 per week.

It is also intended to encourage people to move into smaller properties in order to free up accommodation for families.